An Apple A Day...

Eating healthy on the road is a challenge for me...this was dinner Wednesday night at McCarren Airport. Give me at least one gold star for drinking water instead of soda. I've tried packing food with me to help avoid the temptations that exist at the airport...(Cinnabon, Starbucks, that spicy cracker wasabi pea snack mix, you know the one I'm talking about)...but two months after a business trip to Chicago I found a rotten apple in my carry-on along with an empty Nuts On Clark bag of popcorn. Gross! Well not the popcorn. It was the Chicago mix, of course! After reading this article from CNN.com's Road Warriors series, I vow here and now to better plan ahead and bring healthy snacks with me to avoid the temptations that exist at every turn when I'm out of town for business. [Read: I will actually eat the apple I pack in my carry on] As for packing my workout gear......baby steps, please. www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/09/05/healthy.eating/index.html

How To Pick A Travel Bag

Lands End is a great company.... I bet these bags really perform well. Enter the sweepstakes to win one! http://bit.ly/FWSweeps

"That's What You Get for Waking Up in Vegas"

Honestly, I wasn't going to make much of an effort to shake things up on my business trip to Las Vegas this week. I like PF Chang's Kung Pao Chicken that much! Luckily, PF Chang's is one of my clients and I knew that the Planet Hollywood Casino location installed a few of the textiles I sell there. So I decided to check it out, convincing myself that a new location to eat my usual home-away-from-home dinner would suffice as adventurous. As I meandered thru the mall to get to the restaurant, a very jubilant young woman jumped to my side from her kiosk and lamented on the fact that my finger nails were bare. "Why don't you make your nails pretty?". Instead of the long story, I just replied..."I don't know." "Come here and I will make them pretty for you." She did the most amazing thing with these nail polish stickers! She had so much enthusiasm that I couldn't help myself... Did you know about Incoco, the new Revolution in Nail Polish? Check them out at www.incoco.com. Sold!

Dressing Appropriately for Work

For the last five years my work wardrobe has been in a state of flux. The uncertainty begins with the fact that I moved from the corporate and conservative Midwest to the more laid-back and casual Southwest. In addition, I've been in and out of a maternity wardrobe (and the "in transition back to normal" wardrobe that follows) twice in three years. My beautiful collection of three-season wool suits are long gone and traded in for....well, that's just it... I am still navigating how to dress in this climate of perpetual summer and a more casual business environment. I'm a sales professional in a creative industry, which means I have more choices when it comes to my wardrobe selections. Honestly, I find the amount of choice overwhelming as it only increases the chances of going wrong. I admit, I miss the ease of dressing in suits. Aside from the fit or styling details that show it's age, you really can't go wrong. The jacket and bottoms are the canvas...add flare with a cute top, colorful shoes, and great jewelry. Easy-peasy! This is not a post to fish for compliments on my current outfits, nor is it a sly way to get myself nominated for a TLC What Not To Wear episode....however, I would totally participate if I was! If you are also challenged by today's business casual dress code, you may find the article below a good road map for dressing appropriately for work:







He Said, She Said: Dressing Appropriately for Work - Careers Articles
image via this article at jobs.aol.com

"All Joy and No Fun"...do parents really hate parenting?

A good friend, and fellow working mom, directed my attention to the article below from New York Magazine. Do you hate parenting? I wouldn't necessarily say I hate parenting. I think "hate" is too strong of a word to describe the emotionally exhausting, sleep depriving, stressful work that is only part of the act of raising children. I will say, however, that my patience for parenting sure has waned since the temperature here has risen above 105 and the dew point seems to be stuck at 55 degrees (that means it's humid here in the desert), thus keeping the kids inside and underfoot. Why don't they play together? ...Seriously..., I'm asking you all,... why won't they play together in their awesome play room?! My children are close in age -20 months apart. Many people told me when I was pregnant for the second time, so soon after my first baby, that it would be fine. They told me they would be each other's best friend. Well, they don't seem to be best friends yet - not even close. I can't leave them alone for more than 5 minutes without my daughter, the youngest, screaming in tears after my son has surely done something naughty to her. I witness them kicking, hitting, biting, and sitting on each other all the time. Tears are aplenty around here...most often it being the kids who are crying. On the other hand, my son is the only one who can make my daughter laugh...like real deep down belly laugh. It's those moments, and of course, many, many, many others that bring me the most joy and confirm that having kids is worth all the work...dark circles under my eyes included.

All Joy and No Fun

"Is that my water or yours?"...

Do your palms start sweating at the thought of participating in a business lunch or dinner? Donna Pilato's article below gives you great pointers on table manners for a business lunch or dinner. Memorize the handy chart here and you'll never mistakenly swipe your neighbors roll again!

http://entertaining.about.com/cs/etiquette/a/tablemanners.htm

image via: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/making-sense-of-businessdinner-table-settings.html

Travel for work? Try a few of these ideas on your next trip:

I tend to be a creature of habit and always do the same things when I travel to my work destinations: I check into the hotel, eat dinner at Pei Wei or PF Chang's (my husband doesn't like Asian food and my son is allergic to soy so I don't get to eat this stuff at home), go back to my room, get into pj's, watch non-animated TV (my kids are 3yrs and 19 mos.), fall asleep to the news. I know - boring... I probably lost you at "eat dinner". Check out Kristin Edelhauser Chessman's suggestions to break out of business travel boredom:Beat Business Trip Boredom - Entrepreneur

My next business trip is Tucson next week - what could I do to shake things up?...stay tuned for an update!

Business Etiquette...a nice reminder.

Hopefully you have already mastered these ten tips as they seem common sense to me, but for those of you who need a refresher (I can admit there is one or two I could work on), I share this article below ...

Ten Business Etiquette Tips

image via: flickr - pinetree4

LinkedIn...a good business tool?

LinkedIn is a great tool for me to stay in touch with clients and network with potential new ones. This is just one of several social media outlets I participate in to deliver my personal and corporate brand out into the market. Are you active on LinkedIn? I'd like to know...take the poll on the right side of the screen. Sometimes I wonder, "How much of an impact is participating on LinkedIn making on my business and how can I maximize it's potential?" The article below offers some really great suggestions on how to get your profile started and how to optimize LinkedIn as a business tool. I've implemented several of the suggestions, including utilizing the TripIt application. Now I can share with my connections my business trips. I hope to see more of you on LinkedIn and the next time you see that I'll be in your city...let's connect!

LinkedIn Best Practices for Business

image via: flickr - CoreIncorporated